Writers Tricks of the Trade Volume 5, Issue 4

PRESS “CONTROL” THEN CLICK ANY COVER TO PURCHASE THE BOOK SO YOU WANT TO WRITE...(CONT’D) SUCCESS COULD BE JUST AROUND THE CORNER. IF YOU GET DISCOURAGED AND QUIT BECAUSE OF REJECTIONS, YOU WILL NEVER KNOW. DEFINE YOUR GOALS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO REACH THEM. REMEMBER J.K. ROWLING WAS NOT AN OVERNIGHT SUCCESS JULY-AUGUST 2015 THE FIFTH STEP—A cover is needed. Createspace has a cover generator, and if you have no other options, you’ll need to use it to create a cover. It’s a user friendly bit of software and many books come out with covers created with this tool. However, I firmly believe you need to consult and hire a cover designer. Ten million books are available on Amazon right now. One thing readers consistently mention about why they purchase books is solid cover design. I use Katherine McCarthy at Aeternum Designs. She re-tooled all my covers and sales instantly increased. Her costs are competitive, and she’s professional and well respected. Once you have your cover, you upload it into Createspace just like you did with your manuscript. THE SIXTH STEP—Once the cover and manuscript are done, you’ll have to consider many options available for your project. They are self-explanatory. The most crucial one is pricing. If you choose to go with paperback or Kindle (or both), you need to examine the market to set a price that makes sense. I know you’ve spent months on the project, and a lot of your stories are included, but setting a much higher price for your work versus what’s in the market will be counter-productive. And, if you happen to have errors in your work, and you “over charge,” reviews will pour in attacking this fact. My advice is to price your work right in the middle. *A note here. We’ve been discussing publishing a paperback anthology. To complete the same process for a Kindle version, it’s exactly the same as above. The platform is called Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), also owned and operated by Amazon. If you use this platform first, and finish the process, you can easily print a paperback of the same project, meaning you won’t have to duplicate the bulk of the work. KDP has a button that directs you to “Print on Createspace.” ABOUT C. L. SWINNEY Best-selling crime fiction (Detective Bill Dix Series) and true crime (Robert Pickton: The Pig Farmer Killer) author C. L. Swinney has been a cop for almost fourteen years. Working in narcotics, homicide, and patrol has afforded him great insight into the profession. Recent highly publicized events around the country caused numerous emotions to swirl within Mr. Swinney, forcing him to act. Earlier this year, he struck out to gather a collection of short stories, non-fiction and fiction, from men and women currently (or retired) working in law enforcement, corrections, and the military to share with the general public. His goal was to educate, enlighten, and provide a behind-the-scenes look at these proud professions. No profession is perfect, and mistakes certainly have been made, but the majority of those serving this country or the public strive to do right and risk their lives daily to keep this country and complete strangers safe. C. L. Swinney donates the overwhelming majority of the proceeds from his novels to the families of fallen officers and military members. The remaining proceeds go toward his insatiable coffee urges. PAGE 26 WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Writers Tricks of the Trade Volume 5, Issue 4 | Page 36